You need to spread your wings at some point (discontinued)
by Fi Vind
Summary: "You need to spread your wings at some point!" He said, "Is that a pun because of my name..?" But he was right, I did at some point or end up still in the overly protective clutches of my parents.. and the person I least wanted help from, turned out to be the one I needed to help me the most.(tw child abuse & tw abuse.)
1. Chapter 1

It was a regular day in inktopolis, birds singing, sunny sky dotted with a few clouds, a slight breeze. Can't get anymore regular then that, really.

A young inkling sat on the Train , lurching left and right as its wheels clanked against the rickety tracks, the excited chatter of inklings her own age or older surrounded her, most were coming to the city to either participate in turf wars, then head home or start a new life here as they were finally old enough to live alone.

That was the case for her anyway

She had a tight grip on her i-squid so it wouldn't be tossed out of her hand by the lurching of the train, she was listening to her favorite song, "tide goes out" by Marie, from the idols, the squid sisters. Everyone knew who they were, they were pretty much the biggest and, maybe even, the only idols anyone pays attention to..

Or well, that's how she saw it anyways.

When the song ended, she paused the Playlist and was about to play another when a bell sound echoed and a cheery voice said:

 _Now Arriving: Inktopolis Plaza!_

The doors slid open and inklings began pouring out, she got up and walked into the crowd, following it until she broke off onto the sidelines.

 **Sparrow's POV**

My hand hovered over my eyes, the sun shining as bright as ever. A slight breeze blowing also.

"Of course it's a perfect day... it seems to always be here..." i muttered as i shook my head, what was i being so down for? I should be happy that i at least managed to get here without my parents trailing behind me and dragging me back home. I knew eventually that 99% that they were going to come for me, but at least I had a bit of time before that... maybe get a nice apartment, maybe even stop being so shy and make some friends...?

Like that would happen ...

Muttering to myself, which was a bad habit of mine... I began walking through the streets, trying my best to not walk into the nearest shop and end up trying to buy something. I was probably the most unfresh person here... I don't care really, everyone starts at someplace right? I needed to find the weapons shop however.. how else would I be able to do turf wars?

"U-um..." I just barely managed to get out, expecting them to not hear me, but they did and turned around, "do.. you need aomething...?" The inkling asked awkwardly and I nodded "um... d-do you know where the weapons shop is...? I'm new here and I don't know my w-way around.." I said

Well, that's a new personal record... barely stuttered that time!

"Yeah, it's right over there at booyah base" they said pointing to a small collection of shops clustered together, seeming to be connected by alleyways. "tt-t-th-ank y-you" I muttered as I mentally slapped myself and quickly walked away before they could ask me if I was alright

And... record for the quickest conversation I've had... taken. why couldn't I be as brave or hyper or even outgoing as others? Well, it somewhat has to be with how my parents raised me really... I've always been shy but I could carry a normal conversation without stuttering or in barely a whisper, until my parents got paranoid about octolings after the great zapfish was stolen

Soon, they began sheltering me and telling me stories about how octolings could snatch you at any second outside of the house and backyard, it sounds stupid but it worked on 7 year old me and I soon stopped going to school and hanging out with the large group of friends I had. Eventually, most forgot about me except for a few, who I was hoping to see while I was here..

It had been... ah... 8 or so years since then, I'm currently 15, I came to inktopolis in order to get away from my parents, who became stranger and stranger as I got older.. as I got older, they began teaching me the advanced things, humanology, inkling biology, reproductive stuff, all that.. they are determined to keep me from getting a boyfriend they haven't picked for me, tell me having... "you know what" before marriage, and all sorts of crazy junk...

That's pretty much the biggest reason I wanted to come here, the other of course, is to see my old childhood friends. But, why am I so focused on this? I should be fo-

 **THWUMP!**

And... I ran into the door... smooth sparrow, really real smooth...

I groaned as I pulled myself off the door, rubbing my aching nose and looked inside from the glass door and gasped.. there were rows and racks of weapons lined around the shop, the one that caught my eye the most was what looked to be some kind of rolling weapon..? I didn't care what it was called really, I really wanted it. I'm pretty good with rollers since my parents were kind enough for me to use there old ones from there days when they did turf wars.

They work normal jobs now, but they say they don't really miss it.. another reason my parents are strange. I opened the door and walked in, a few inklings were looking at weapons, heading through a door in the back of the shop with either one or two, I looked around a bit and my eyes stopped on the roller from earlier, I quickly walked up and reached out to touch it

"Excuse me! But it seems you aren't fresh enough for that weapon!" Said a voice and I jumped, whirling around and saw a horseshoe crab looking up at me, he had large binocular like glasses on and what looked to be a scout boys uniform on..

Well... to me anyways. The ones where I'm from look like that without all those badges pinned on it

"S-sorry... I'm new here. M-my names s-sparrow" I said as I held out my hand for a hand shake, thankfully he took it and didn't just stare at me...

"Names sheldon! Weapon extrodinare and owner of ammo knights! Founded by, yours truly!" He said proudly, "u-um.. I'm wonder if t-theres a weapon I can use for turf war.." I said as I reached into my jeans pocket (and yes, I wear JEANS. Not just shorts. Splat me!) But it was empty... I checked the other, the back, every pocket I could think of, even my shoes...

The money was gone...

"Cod Damn it..." I hissed, now embaressed.. I realized he was staring at me and I blushed lightly. "S-s-sorry... i.. lost.. my money..." I sighed. I must have either left it back at home or on the train...

"It's fine. The weapon comes with no charge actually, so your fine!" He said smiling as he went behind the counter and then came back holding a weapon I remembered seeing in my mom's collection.. it was a splattershot jr. The weapon all new turf war players used..

"Are... you sure I can have this for free..? I-i I mean, I'll pay y-you back when I c-can!" I said as I held the weapon, looking it over. I felt like there was a catch for some reason... but if I just went on that instinct then it would probably cost me like last time..

"Of course! Y-"

"Hey sheldon! Where's that new roller you said I could get?! GIMME GIMME GIMME!" Squealed a inkling girl as she tackled sheldon, I moved back as the girl began blabbing, I couldn't hear a word she said..

"U-um... o-okay.. well.. see you later then..." I said before walking out as fast as I could of the shop. I sighed as I looked over to the inktopolis tower

 _Well.. time to find a team to play my first real turf war with..._


	2. Chapter 2

Nobody's POV

"GAH!" sparrow cried out as she got splatted for the 10th time that round, they were getting no where... and the clock was ticking.. she huffed as she respawned and quickly dove back into the action

Or so she thought before getting snipped..

When she respawned, her teammates were huddled behind the spawn point auto shield...

They were being spawn camped...

 _they have to go as far as spawn camp us?! Cod.. that's the lowest thing you can do besides squidbagging!_ She thought, frustrated as she continued to shoot and cover turf that was continuously being covered by the enemy.. she soon had her special ready, her currently bright yellow tentacles starting to glow, she looked over to her team mates, theirs the same, she nodded to them and activated her special, sharing the bubble with them and they activated theirs as soon as the bubble was around them

The roller wasted no time in flinging splat bombs, leaping out of the spawn and flinging them left and right, up and down, side to side like a maniac

The second roller fired their inkzooka, leaping out of the spawn also, firing at the retreating enemy team, splatting two of them

Sparrow followed them, covering any turf they missed, they manged to splat the entire enemy team, they didn't waste any time and began running for the middle

10!

"EEEEP!" Sparrow squeaked as she was splatted once more

9!

8!

7!

6!

 _stupid sniper!_ she thought as she respawned for cod knows how many times it's been...

5!

4!

She super jumped to one of her team mates, only to see as she was in mid air, that someone from the purple team was standing nearby... and they were shooting where she was going to land...

3!

2!

1!

 _you have to be shitting me..._ she thought as she landed and got instantly splatted

 **GAME!**

The whistle blew, signaling that the battle was over, sparrow sighed as she respawned... she knew instantly they lost.. Judd examined the battle field, holding the flags for the yellow and purple team, after what felt like an eternity, he raised the purple flag towards the purple team, they began wooping and cheering, high-fiving eachother

* * *

Sparrow's POV

"COD DAMN IT SPARROW! AGAIN, YOUR THE ONE WHO GOT SPLATTED THE MOST, THE ONE WHO INKED THE LEAST AMOUNT OF TURF! COD FUCKING DAMN IT!" screamed the team leader, who was named zackary, as he continued to rant and insult me.. I was used to this by now, but that didn't mean it still hurt but I hid it well.

"S-sorry... I-i tried... I tried to-" I began before my vision blurred for a moment, I blinked before I realized I was on the ground and zackary was standing over me, glaring at me, my right cheek was hurting so I assumed he slapped me

"I'm so tired of your bull! Make those mistakes one more time and your out of here!" He growled and stomped off. I sighed and shook my head, _you said that the last 5 times..._ I thought bitterly as I stood up and picked up my weapon

"Hey sparrow!" A cheery voice said, I turned my head to see who it was and saw my childhood friend lyra, walking towards me. I waved and walked to her

"How was the match? She asked, a sparkle in her eyes and I sighed.. "w-w-we l-lost.. and I got y-yelled at by my team leader.. a-again..." I muttered as we walked around the plaza, it was crowded as usual, inklings going to booyah base or participating in turf wars

"Yeesh... doesn't he ever give you a- wait, what happened to your face?" She asked worried as she noticed the red mark on my cheek and shrugged, "team leader. He raged so bad, he said if I make the same mistakes one more time he's kicking me out"

"Are you serious?! That's insane! I oughta give him a shiner for that! Why are you even still with them?" She growled, her hands clenched into fist by her side and I shrugged again, "they were the only other team that wasn't full and that didn't reject me because I was new, plus, another one of my old friends is on that team" I said as we sat down on a bench, I tapped the nozzle of my splattershot jr. As we spoke

After a bit, we decided to do one more match before heading home as it was going to be late soon, we headed back and began looking for any teams that needed extras for one final match.

* * *

"Carpcarpcarpcarpcarpcarpcarp!" I squeaked as I ran through the streets of inktopolis towards booyah base, I had woken up late and was in danger of not participating with my team in a match.. I had also forgotten to lock my apartment door so I was hoping everything I had wasn't gone by the time I got back. I weaved through the usual crowd of inklings, getting pushed down a few times but quickly continuing. I spotted zack and three other inklings, one of them being lyra, heading into the lobby

"W-WAIT! I-I'M.. I'M HERE! WAAIIITTT!" I cried as I slowed down, wheezing slightly.. I wasn't that athletic really... I saw zack say something to the others and they laughed and nodded, waving as they headed into the tower, I saw lyra look back and she smiled and waved at me before disappearing into the lobby

"I... I'm... i-.. I woke up... I woke- I'm sor-" I managed to get out before being punched in the gut, groaning as I fell to the ground.

"Your lucky I'm in a good mood today.. your on the other team with the three I was talking to and I'm leading our regular team with an actual GOOD player! Can't wait to beat you guys in a match and prove how much of a terrible player you are. Also, might not run into me.. I'm still pissed about yesterday"

He pulled me up roughly and shoved my weapon in my hands and I nodded, walking into the lobby and smiled, pretending that everything was alright...

* * *

Nobody's POV

"Imgonnahunthimimgonnahunthimimginnahunthim!" Lyra growled as she charged up her heavy splatling and covered a decent line before diving into the ink and repeating, sparrow trailing behind her, "l-lyra p-please! It's-"

"Shut up! I'm getting him and him ONLY! If anyone gets in my way I'm splatting them to.. just focus on inking turf, I got this!" She said before leaping down the ledge, splatting someone on the way down, determined as all hell...

Sparrow sighed as she began inking over spots and places her teammates missed, only jumping down to cover up the other teams ink

The stage was Moray Towers, Teal vs. Pink, sparrow and lyra's team was pink, sparrow ran a hand through her messy tentacles, sticking out in many directions. She huffed, as she reemerged from her ink, finished recharging and began inking turf once again, before she got splatted by someone

"Dang it..." she muttered as she quickly jumped back into the action, there was only 1:30 left..

 _where the splat is he... I'm gonna get him I swear..._ thought lyra as she ran through the stage, and true to her word, she splatted anyone who got in her way, she even got a triple kill but she hadn't seen zackary, who was her target..

 _30 seconds remaining!_ an announcer called and lyra growled, she was thinking on super jumping to sparrow when she saw zackary and sparrow, the sight only fueling her rage

"H-hey.. c-cant... can't we talk about this...?" Sparrow squeaked as the stared at the gun that was currently in her face, zackary glaring at her.. "afraid not.. time for revenge..!"

10!

9!

8!

"OH HELL NO YOU DONT! GET OVER HERE YOU BASTARD!" Lyra yelled as she charged towards the two, activating her bubbler and charging up her splatling

7!

6!

5!

"Who the?!" Zackary said as he turned his head towards the voice, sparrow did also and her jaw dropped at the sight of a pissed off lyra, bubbler activated and an almost charged splatling, charging towards them

4!

3!

"SPLAT THIS!" Zackary squawked as he turned and ran, leaping off the ledge to the area below, attempting to escape

2!

1!

"THIS IS FOR MY FRIEND!" Lyra screeched as she fired her weapon, splatting zack in mid-air

 **GAME!**

The whistle blew, signaling that the battle was over. Lyra smirked as sparrow sighed, "you just made it worse I think..."

"Don't care! Finally splatted him for once, that's all I wanted!" She said, her cheery demenor returning as she hugged her splatling, smiling a goofy grin. Judd examined the stage, holding flags for the respectable teams, after a minute that felt like an eternity, he raised the flag to the pink team, who won by just 0.1%

"W-w-we... we won?!" Sparrow said as lyra hugged her squealing, "WE WON! WE WON! IN YOUR FACE ZACK!" She said, giving the double finger to a raging zack, who glared at them with full on hate..

* * *

Sparrow's POV

We.. won.. now things are probably going to get worse.. or better...

"That was amazing! I can't believe I got to splay zack.. AND AT THE LAST SECOND!" Lyra squealed as she hugged her heavy splatling, grinning from ear to ear, I couldn't help but smile also.. I actually won a turf war for once, and probably prove that I wasn't a terrible teammate in the process probably

"That was pretty fun.. hopefully zack sees that I'm not such a terrible teammate after all.." I said as we walked around, the sun was starting to set. We played turf war after turf war, winning almost all of them.. it was nice for a change.. and I also ranked up, from level 3 to level 10..

"Me to.. but, if he does end up kicking you out, then you can join my team still! My offer is still in the air, waiting to be accepted..."

"Yeah yeah.. well, see you tomorrow"

"See ya!" Lyra said as she turned into a squid and super jumped away "SQUEEEEEEE!" She squealed as she launched into the air

I giggled as I walked in the direction of my apartment complex, I stopped for a moment, I thought I heard aomething... but I shrugged it off, it was probably my tired brain playing tricks on me and I continued my walk


	3. Chapter 3

Sparrow's POV

I opened my apartment door and flicked on the light, signing in relief.. everything was here.. I walked in and closed the door behind me, yawning as I streched, I wondered how most found the energy to even keep going during splatfest.. they truly must be night owls or dedicated to their teams..

I didn't feel like eating anything for dinner, plus.. I was kinda out of food.. so I needed to go on a shopping spree in the morning. I walked into my bedroom, it was plain like the rest of my apartment, I didn't have much really.. a small couch, a decently sized TV, etc. I walked over to my dresser and picked out an overly large sleep shirt, as I was changing I heard knocking..

 _Who in the... who could that be..?_ I thought as I quickly finished changing and walked to the front door and opened it..

"Z-z-zackary?!" I squeaked, surprised on how he even knew where I lived.. "hey, can I come in..?" He asked and was taken back a bit.. he sounded.. upset.. I felt like he was up to something but I didn't want to be rude so I stepped to the side, allowing him in and closed the door behind us

"U-u-um... i-if.. if.. you-" I began but he shook his head, "Nah, I'm fine.. I only came by to talk a bit.."

"Um... o-okay..." I said. I felt like he was trying to do something sneaky... but I ignored the feeling, this had to be going somewhere.. "So.. I came by to tell you... uh.. so, remember that turf war earlier today?" He asked and I nodded, I remember seeing the look on his face when he and his team lost.. it felt pretty good being on the winning team and proving I was actually a good teammate

"And when i.. um.. hit.. you.." his voice got quiet towards the end but I heard what he said, I remembered that to.. he came up and slapped me once again and he punched me as well.. It still stung but it was more of a dull pinging then full on stinging

"W-where... where a-a-are y-you... g-going with this..?" I asked, suspicious. I felt like kicking him out.. "well.. what I wanted to say is... I'm sorry... and.. and I like you.." he said and I looked up, "w-w-what..?" I said confused.. he liked me...?

"I said I'm sorry and I like you.. I've always had... I'm sorry I hit you and everything it's just.. I have anger issues and I hate losing, I've always have really.. when I saw your being rejected by everyone, I wanted to help you out so that's why I accepted you but I'm not used to losing so I took out my anger on you even though I never wanted to.. and I admit it, I started falling for you the moment I laid eyes on you..." he leaned in closer, my back pressed against the door, he had a hand resting against it.. I was completely on edge.. where the ink was all this even coming from?!

"B-b-but... i- w-what...?" I managed to get out as I stared at him for a moment, before looking away, blushing like mad... this.. didn't make any sense really.. why would he end up hurting me if he liked me.. Having anger issues didn't justify bullsquid!

"What I'm trying to say is... i.. I love you" he said as he began leaning in closer, I felt his hand on my cheek as he turned my face, my blush only getting worse... I'm even more on edge when he asks me this... "I want to know, do you love me?" And I swear I completely blanked out. I mean.. I don't really like him really... but if I said no then.. who knows what will happen..

"I- i.. love you to..." I muttered, it sounded more like a question then an answer but it seemed to satisfy him as he smiled, resting his forehead on mine.. "u-um.. I'm kind o-o-of t-tired.. s-so.." I muttered, shifting my gaze slightly so I was looking at a wall but I could still see him out of the corner of my eye

"O-oh.. right, sorry. I'll be on my way now!" He said, as he straightened himself up and I quickly did also, moving out of the way, "I'm... I-I'm g-gonna go.. t-to b-bed.. c-can.. u-um.. youturmthelightsoutgoodnight!" I said the last sentence as quickly as I could, fumbling with the words and turned and fled the room, stopping in the hallway to hear if he was going to see if I was alright.. I heard the click of the light going off and the front door closing

I sighed, I slowly walked to my room, closing the door behind me, "lyra is gonna freak out when she hears this... but.. how did I get myself into this kind of mess again?!" I whispered as tears began rolling down my cheeks but I wiped them away.. I had to tell my parents however.. I always told them anything and everything, I basically had to cause they were my parents.

I sighed "maybe in the morning" I barely mouthed as I dragged my feet towards my bed and crawled under the sheets in my squid form, falling asleep as soon as my head touched the mattress


End file.
